Victor Hedman Shining as the Stanley Cup Final's Brightest Star

When Victor Hedman chose to wear No. 77, the temptation was to say, "A little presumptuous isn't it, kid?"

High numbers don't always have to be earned by NHL rookies. After all, Sidney Crosby came right into the NHL wearing No. 87 and some guy named Gretzky was given No. 99 as a rookie in the World Hockey Association with Edmonton, and they did all right.  

According to Hockey-Reference.com, the only player to ever wear No. 87 before Crosby came along was Donald Brashear, the longtime enforcer who wore it with Philadelphia. Wilf Paiement and Rick Dudley are the only other two NHL players who ever wore No. 99, which has since been permanently retired by the NHL in honor of Wayne Gretzky.

No. 77, though, has some pedigree to live up to—especially for a defenseman.

Though the number was worn by some pretty good forwards (Phil Esposito, Pierre Turgeon, Adam Oates, Cliff Ronning), it is probably best remembered for being on the back of Ray Bourque, the Hall of Famer who won the Stanley Cup in his final game in 2001 after a 22-year career with Boston and Colorado.

A lot of other fans remember Paul Coffey wearing it, too. By the way, both Bourque and Coffey started their careers wearing No. 7 but later switched.

HANS DERYK/Associated Press

Here was Hedman, though, starting out his career with No. 77. A little presumptuous, right?

Nobody thinks so anymore.

As Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters after Monday's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Hedman had his "coming-out party" in Tampa Bay's 3-2 victory, which put the Lightning up 2-1 entering Wednesday's Game 4 at United Center.

For a generalized, national hockey audience, that is probably true.

Serious fans have seen the quality of Hedman's play in the last two years rise in relation to the Lightning's resurgence as a franchise.

In this Final, Hedman has raised his game even higher, to the point where he is now a serious candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy. If he does, he would become the first No. 77 to win one.

After Game 3, in which he assisted on two goals and played a team-high 26 minutes and six seconds, the praise was effusive for the 24-year-old native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden—the same hockey factory that produced Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins.

Stephen Whyno of the Canadian Press and Sportsnet's Chris Johnston shared some comments by teammate Brenden Morrow and Cooper:

About the only people not to give Hedman the proper love on Monday night were those in charge of picking the official three stars of the game. No offense to No. 1 Cedric Paquette, No. 2 Marian Hossa and No. 3 Ben Bishop, but Hedman was by far the best player in Game 3.

Hedman, selected second overall by the Lightning in the 2009 draft, set franchise playoff records with his two helpers for most assists (13) and points (14) by a defenseman.

Each assist was a beauty, starting with his stretch pass to Ryan Callahan for a first-period goal:

The second was even more impressive, a perfect crossing pass to Paquette after Hedman split the Chicago zone off the rush:

At 6'6" coming into the league, Hedman always had size in abundance. It wasn't until he felt more comfortable with his play in the defensive end that his skill with the puck started to flourish at the offensive end, Cooper indicated to reporters.

"Victor, he's just blossomed the last couple of years," he said." I think he was skating, just set him apart, his size, but he's really learned to defend."

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said things along the same lines to ProHockeyTalk's Jason Brough:

"

It’s tough to come into the league as an 18-year-old defenseman. I think that’s the toughest position to be put in. Especially in the position that we were in. We weren’t a great team. He was getting some minutes against some quality competition, and our team was struggling. He was kind of thrown into the fire. He’s matured as a player, matured as a person. You see the confidence that he has now. He steps up in all big moments.

"

Coming into the Cup Final, it was another defenseman—Chicago's Duncan Keith—who was getting all the publicity and Conn Smythe talk. He has competition now in Hedman.

There are still two more games to win for the Lightning, so nobody—and certainly not Hedman—is getting too big-headed in the Tampa Bay dressing room.

But while Chicago continues to face questions about its defensive depth—with Johnny Oduya banged up now after a Game 3 injury—Hedman leads a Lightning blue line that has given Chicago's star forwards more problems than many expected.

Jonathan Toews has only one assist through the series' three games, and Patrick Kane is still looking for his first point.

Hedman has had more to do with that than probably anybody. His long reach has broken up many passing attempts by Toews, Kane and other Blackhawks skaters, and his smart outlet passing has neutralized Chicago's tough forecheck.

“Words can’t describe the force he’s been out there for our team, not just offensively but defensively,” Stamkos told reporters.

Indeed, Hedman looks like he belongs now—even in a jersey with a big, garish number.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him @Adater.